


Fledgling

by Agent0fChaos (wir_sind_die_Jager)



Series: Holy One-Shots, Batman! [1]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 20:09:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8027338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wir_sind_die_Jager/pseuds/Agent0fChaos
Summary: A look into the childhood of Margaret Pye, the future villain Magpie.





	Fledgling

**Author's Note:**

> I used to enter the monthly "Batfic" contests on Livejournal back in 2008/2009 and now I am slowly but surely moving my fic collection over to AO3. These drabbles and ficlets tend to run on the brief side, generally 500-1000 words. Still, I enjoyed writing them and remain proud of them. Please enjoy.

The little girl with the auburn braids sat at the back of the baseball field at recess that warm, slightly breezy spring afternoon. Ever so slightly, she twisted her wrist, admiring the way the bauble on her wrist caught the sunlight. She felt the prismatic rays dance on her face as she counted each blue stone individually; naming them, memorizing their subtle uniqueness that set them apart from their sisters.  
  
"So shiny," she mumbled to herself, mesmerized by the deep, oceanic blue of the gems that brightened or darkened, depending on which way the sun hit them. She was too engrossed with the bracelet to notice the gaggle of classmates that were marching over to her.  
  
"Margaret Pye, you give that bracelet back to me right now!"  
  
Startled, Margaret jumped to her feet and turned to face the opposition. They were there to separate her from her shiny; to tear them apart!   
  
"I don't have it," Margaret snapped, even as she held her arms behind her back, her right hand clasped tightly over her left wrist, feeling the delicious metal and ridges of each stone against her skin.  
  
"Liar!" One of the other girls shouted.  
  
Their leader stood akimbo as she confronted Margaret.  
  
"Yes, you do! Jenny saw you take it out of my backpack at lunch. You have it on your wrist. Give it back or I'll tell."  
  
"B-b-b-but I..." Margaret stammered, desperately trying to summon the words that would explain her suffocating need for the bracelet. Her classmate didn't need it. She just wanted it. Margaret needed it; craved it. She could not bear the thought of her new found friendship being torn asunder. "We just met."  
  
The girls were taken aback. They stared at the red head as if they had never seen her before. Then they collectively threw their heads back and laughed.  
"What a weirdo!"  
  
The owner of the bracelet reached out and grabbed Margaret by one of her braids, cruelly pulling her forward until she was on her knees, shrieking in protest as she fought to keep the precious bracelet.  
  
"Give it back!" Her classmate shouted. "It's mine!"  
  
"No," Margaret protested, "it doesn't want to be with you! It wants to belong to me!"  
  
"You are such a freak!"  
  
"Yeah, magpie, give it up!" The others egged on.  
  
**"Magpie!"**  
**"Magpie!"**  
**"Magpie!"**  
  
The girls fought for ownership of the lovely bracelet as their little audience flooded Margaret's ears with their hateful chanting of that dreaded nickname. Margaret twisted her wrist as she wiggled and wormed about, desperately trying to escape the other girl's pulling and tugging. Seconds later the brawl was over and Margaret sat surrounded by two dozen sparkling jewels scattered in the grass. Her classmate stood dazed with an empty, bent wire in her hand. A heavy blanket of silence unfurled before them for a few tense moments.   
  
"I'm telling!" The other girl suddenly squealed, turning with her friends and running across the field towards the nearest yard teacher.  
  
Margaret's eyes welled with tears as she got on her hands and knees, and began to pick up the tiny gemstones one by one.

  
"I'm sorry," she whispered apologetically to them individually then bestowed a gentle kiss against their cool, blue surface before stuffing them in her pocket. "Don't worry," she promised, "I'll find you a new wire to string you on, good as new. Then you really will be all mine. All mine."


End file.
